Bats in the Castle
by LiveAndLetRain
Summary: A collection of snippets and ficlets focused on moments from Harry's seven years (more or less) at Hogwarts and his interactions with the mysterious Wayne kids.
1. Year One

**Maybe someday this will be expanded into an actual story, but for now, enjoy! Each chapter is a year, and within the year the snippets are in chronological order. They are all from Harry's point of view and are only bits and pieces of the full story of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Wayne.**

 *******  
 **Partially inspired by jbramx2's art on DeviantArt, because I looked at that art and it was my headcannon in graphic form! You should definitely check it out! And that is where Cass' origins come from, since that was really the only thing I hadn't already figured out.**

Does contain some slurs, but it's Draco Malfoy. Were you expecting differently?

 _ **I Owneth Nothing...eth.**_

* * *

Harry and Ron had just fallen into an awkward silence when the door to the compartment opened again. An older boy stuck his head in the door and grinned at them before looking back over his shoulder.

"What about here, Cass?"

He stepped to the side, and a girl, a little smaller than Harry peeked in, peering through a short curtain of smooth black hair with dark slanted eyes. She smiled shyly at Harry and he smiled back. Ron squinted up at the boy.

"Who're you?"

The boy grinned again, a flash of very white teeth in a tan face. "You're Ron Weasley right?" Ron nodded slowly. The older boy stuck a hand out. "Dick Grayson," he gestured over his shoulder. "My brother, Jason Todd, and sister, Cassandra Cain." He held his hand out to Harry next.

"Harry Potter." Harry said reluctantly. Grayson just nodded. "Nice to meet you." He exchanged glances with the girl, then nudged her into the compartment. "Cass is a first year, like you two. Have fun!"

He backed up, closed the door, and Harry could hear laughter disappearing down the car.

Cassandra glanced up from the floor with a small, shy smile. "May I stay?"

Ron bristled, but Harry nodded and scooted farther down the bench so there was room for her.

* * *

"I'm adopted." Cassandra explained quietly. "We all are, more or less. Mr. Wayne lets us live with him now."

"Wait." Ron sat up straighter. "Wayne? As in Bruce Wayne? The richest pureblood wizard in Britain?"

Cassandra shrugged. "Yes. He's nice."

"Seems a bit thick though." Ron frowned. "Not the cleverest kneazle in the castle."

Cassandra gave him a stern look. "Not nice to talk about people you don't know."

Fortunately, Harry's chocolate frog escaped and by the time they'd caught it again the subject had been dropped.

* * *

Todd is gleeful as he watches Harry catch snitch after snitch, dodging the bludgers he and the other reserve beater hit at him with ease, the Weasley twins hooting from the sidelines. When practice is finally over and they come down to the ground, Harry is surprised to find himself caught up in a hug by the enthusiastic second year.

"We are going to smash them!" the older boy crows, his speech sharpening as his near-cockney London accent becomes stronger. "Dickie-bird won't know what 'it 'im!"

* * *

Harry stopped dead on the stairs and blinked down at the common room.

"Uhhh…"

Cassandra smiled and waved up at him and Grayson gave a huge grin.

"Hey Harry! What's up?"

Harry blinked again. He was pretty sure he wasn't dreaming the two Hufflepuffs in the Gryffindor common room. He looked around. Why were they here? Todd wasn't anywhere in sight, how did they even get in?

"Come join us!" Grayson nodded at him. "We're waiting for Hannah, Susan, Neville, and Hermione, but you are welcome to join in."

"Join what?" Harry asked, approaching cautiously, noting the books spread around the coffee table surface. Neither Grayson nor Cassandra were using any of the over-stuffed chairs, instead opting to sit cross-legged on the carpet. (Well, Cassandra was cross-legged. Harry wasn't sure what to call the uncomfortable looking tangle Grayson was in.) The books were for both Herbology and History of Magic as well as one or two for Charms.

"Study group." Cassandra explained. "Dick is going to help us with our homework."

* * *

"So."

Ron startles when Jason Todd leans over the back of the sofa, his head low enough that Hermione and Harry on either side pull back a little.

"You fought a troll." He gives them all assessing looks before a frankly disturbing grin creeps across his face and he straightens up. He pats Hermione and Ron on the head and ruffles Harry's hair before he turns and walks off, whistling as if nothing had happened.

Harry watches him go, feeling very confused.

"He's completely batty." Ron says, sounding almost awed. "The whole lot of them are."

* * *

Grayson just shrugs. "Maybe. Or maybe he knows that being underestimated is one of the most powerful weapons you can have." His laugh is a lot more like a very disturbing cackle and has Harry and the twins both leaning around to look at him more closely.

He flips off the wall into the snow, blinking back up at them innocently. "But then, I wouldn't know anything about that, would I. I'm just a Hufflepuff after all, _hai?"_ Then he sticks his hands in his pockets and _bounces_ off, whistling cheerfully.

Fred turns to Jason.

"Your brother is _evil."_

Jason just hums, like this is old news. "The Hufflepuffs are secretly planning to take over the world. They are just lulling us into a false sense of security and waiting until Dick is legal so they can set him up as supreme dictator."

* * *

"Really Cain?" Malfoy sneers down at them. "You are so pathetic that you got held back a year, you must be even stupider than that mudblood gutter rat 'brother' of yours and the gypsy half-breed. What would you know about wandless magic?"

Cassandra just looked at him with her even gaze, her head tilted to the side slightly. Her eyes got that faraway look in them they did sometimes. "Being cruel to other children won't make your father love you." She said quietly, absently. "It will just make you into a bully and chase away other people who could care about you."

She turned on her heel and marched off, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Susan following her in awkward silence.

* * *

Professor Mcgonagall sighed and looked around the slightly damaged hallway before staring up at the ceiling. "If a certain Ravenclaw prefect were to have any idea as to how this disaster came about, then she would be advised to be more cautious next time she and her partner in crime experiment with hover charms." She looked back down. "But then you wouldn't know anything about that would you Miss Gordon."

The sixth year shrugged, a look of demure innocence on her face that matched Grayson's beside her. "Not a clue Professor."

* * *

Harry was under the impression that he wasn't allowed visitors, so Cassandra slipping up to his bed as he lay there that night, hoping he'd be released in the morning, was a surprise. She sat a moment, looking at him seriously until Harry dropped his gaze, unable to meet her eyes any longer.

He was surprised to feel the light brush of her lips against his forehead and looked back up as she stood.

"Next time," she said solemnly, patting him on the head like a puppy. "Dick says come to us. We can help and you won't have to fight alone."

He blinked and she was gone.

* * *

Harry watched as Jason, Cassandra, and Grayson clustered around an older man in a suit, talking over each other excitedly. As they reached the barrier, Cassandra turned around and looked straight at Harry as if she knew he was watching.

He raised a hand awkwardly to wave. She smiled and waved back before following her family through the barrier.

* * *

 _If anyone has requests for any particular moments from the books they would like to see, I am willing to consider them! I'd love suggestions actually._

 _And for your information...As it stands at this point in the story_  
 _Richard Grayson - Hufflepuff - 3rd year (In the same year as the Weasley Twins) - A chaser for Hufflepuff - Half-blood-ish (It's complicated)_  
 _Jason Todd - Gryffindor - 2nd year - second string beater for Gryffindor - Muggleborn_  
 _Cassandra Cain (Wayne) - Hufflepuff - Age-wise, she should be a year ahead of the Trio, but due to circumstances she is in their year - Pureblood_  
 _Barbara Gordon - Ravenclaw - 6th Year - Chaser for Ravenclaw - Prefect - Half-Blood_

 _ **Please Review! Feed Bob the Dragon!**_


	2. Year Two

_**Just a reminder, there is a lot that goes on "behind the scenes" as it were but, because I made the rash decision to write this from Harry's point of view it is, well, behind the scenes. And this was the hardest year of all. The other chapters to follow should be much better, I just really did not know what to do with this one so it mostly ended up as a mini-rant on Blood-status dynamics.**_  
 _ **Good grief. At this rate I'm going to end up writing a companion story that will be longer and from the point of view of the Bats...**_  
 _ **Darnit!**_  
 _ **Anyway, the bolded parts are excerpts from The Chamber Of Secrets that I borrowed. They don't belong to me, they belong to JKR**_

* * *

Harry took the time while he was locked in his room to go through the mail he'd (finally) gotten from Dobby. There were several each from Ron and Hermione, and two notes from Hagrid. The big surprise was near the middle of the stack where there was a letter written in beautiful script, from Jason Todd of all people, extending an invitation to spend some time at _Wayne Manor_ with his family. Harry needed a minute to process the "Manor" part of it before he moved on.

At the bottom of the parchment was a shorter note, written in a messy, handwriting that had the look of someone just beginning primary school having taken great pains to make it as neat as they could. It was from Cassandra and basically asked him to please come, she'd had Jason help her write the letter, hope he was doing well, etc…

He felt horrible for not being able to reply. Hedwig hooted quietly in agreement from her cage.

* * *

One of the things Harry did at the Burrow was send a note off to Jason and Cassandra, apologizing for not responding earlier and giving a brief and rather vague explanation of grumpy relatives and trouble with the post. Hedwig returned with a reply not two days later, telling him that it was quite alright and not to worry about it.

* * *

 **"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that - - - no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - - - bad blood, that what it is."**

"Merlin's beard!" The exclamation cut the shop assistant off and Harry suddenly found himself surrounded by the Wayne kids who had appeared out of nowhere, followed by the elderly gentlemen who had picked them up at the station at the end of last year and a handsome, dark-haired wizard in fancy robes.

"Mr. Wayne!" Mrs. Weasley gasped.

"Mrs. Weasley, I presume." The wizard said and bowed over her hand in a very lord-like fashion. "Please, call me Bruce. I have heard excellent things about you." He turned his attention to the wreckage of the shop and frowned, a sharper glint coming into his vacant blue eyes. "What happened here?"

"Yeah!" Jason exclaimed. "We saw Malfoy and his spawn hurrying out like their robes were on fire. What gives?"

Cassandra poked Harry in the side. "You alright?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah. It was Mr. Weasley that was fighting with Mr. Malfoy."

"Fighting?" The suited gentleman said, from where he was standing near the Grangers. "Good heavens! Not that I'm sure Mr. Malfoy did not deserve it, but whatever for?"

There was some awkward shuffling before the gentlemen nodded. "I see. Well then," he offered his arm to Mrs. Granger. "Perhaps we should adjourn somewhere more orderly for the time being." He gave Mr. Wayne a meaningful glance. "We can always order the children's books, Master Bruce."

"Probably a good idea." Grayson said, the remains of what Harry thought might be a transfiguration textbook held between his thumb and forefinger. They had to push past Gilderoy Lockhart on the way out, who had left off gushing about spinning the fight for the papers in an attempt to get Mr. Wayne's attention, but the elderly gentleman had shooed the entire group out so smoothly Harry thought it must be magic.

* * *

The Weasleys had been ready to leave after what happened at the bookstore and the Grangerslooked distinctly rattled, but Mr. Wayne had insisted on taking everyone to lunch.

"It is my treat!" he insisted. "But I have heard so much about you all from the children, we absolutely must talk more!" He reminded Harry a lot of Lockhart, with the flamboyant way he spoke and moved. At least he wasn't wearing lavender.

The Waynes lead them to a fancy looking restaurant where, over Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's protests Mr. Wayne told the witch who met them at the door. "The private room, Annora, thank you." And the elderly gentleman herded them all up some stairs and before Harry really knew what was happening, he was seated at a long table with what looked like real silverware and fancy china on a clean, white tablecloth, looking at a menu he didn't understand half of. Most of the food seemed to have French names.

"Oh yeah!" Grayson said suddenly, smacking himself in the head. "Introductions. Bruce, this is Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and…Ginny?" Ginny nodded. "Ginny Weasley. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and I'm assuming these are your parents, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded and introduced her parents as Doctors David and Rose Granger. Mr. Wayne was very charming and, despite seeming like a cross between Lockhart and Malfoy, very quickly set the Grangers at ease. "I do have some experience with Muggles." He explained. "Jason, my second son, is Muggleborn and Alfred, who raised me, is also a Muggle." The elderly gentleman, who had seated himself on Mrs. Granger's other side, inclined his head.

"Want help ordering?" Jason whispered to Harry, who nodded in relief.

The meal was good, Mr. Wayne and Grayson seemed to make an effort to charm everyone and make them comfortable, and Mr. Weasley enjoyed the opportunity to quiz the Grangers, with Alfred playing a gentle referee.

Cassandra wanted to hear all about Harry's summer and Mr. Wayne doesn't focus entirely on him and all in all it was a lovely end to the day that almost made Harry forget what had happened at Flourish and Blotts.

* * *

As Harry slipped back in between Ron and Hermione, Cassandra turned around from the table where she was huddled with Susan, Hannah, and Neville and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

When Professor Sprout handed out the earmuffs she snagged a bright yellow pair with what looked like little black bats all over them.

* * *

Jason grinned and gave them a cheery wave. "Hey midgets! Come meet the new midgets!"

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and cautiously came closer. Jason pointed to the Gryffindor girl off to the side, deep in conversation with Cassandra. "That's Stephanie Brown. Don't really know how we acquired her but she and Cass are attached at the hip now so…She's roomies with your sister, Weasley." He elbowed the tiny (smaller even than Colin Creevy) Ravenclaw sitting beside him on the sofa. "And this is Timmy Drake. He's our neighbor, came a year early 'cause he's a precocious little brat. He's as good as family."

Drake muttered something too quietly for Harry to hear and Jason snorted in reply. "Bloody hell, Timmers. As if it weren't enough you were almost a damned _hatstall,_ just like the rest of us. Trust me, you're family." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Alfred says that Bruce was an actual hatstall. Dick thinks the other possibility was Gryffindor. Dunno why he went with Slytherin if that was the case."

"Both his parents were Slytherin." Drake says softly.

"Ah." Jason grimaces. "And that would be why." He gives Drake a look. "How do you even know that?"

"Your dad was a Slytherin?" Harry says. "And he doesn't mind that you are a Gryffindor and the others are Hufflepuffs?"

Jason leans back comfortably and ruffles Drake's hair so that the smaller boy glares at him and struggles to straighten it. "Nah. He doesn't have a very high opinion of house rivalry. All it does is make more divisions in the Wizarding World and draw more lines." He has the air of someone quoting something.

* * *

"It's adorable isn't it." Jason said cheerfully, pointing down to the end of the Gryffindor table where Tim Drake and Colin Creevy were huddled over their cameras, comparing notes on Wizarding and Muggle photography, while Stephanie and Ginny traded breakfast foods with the blonde Ravenclaw girl over their heads. "He's already making friends."

Grayson dropped down between him and Cassandra and stole Jason's sausage. "He's got a lot of friends already. Two Slytherins, a few Gryffindors." He shrugged, seeming a little uncomfortable and Jason frowned.

"What's wrong, Goldie?"

Grayson nodded at the Slytherin table. Jason looked over and did a double-take. "Is that-"

"Yes."

"And Timmy's made friends with _her_."

"Yes." Grayson glared at Jason. "Don't give him grief about it. It isn't her fault or his."

Jason subsided and Harry exchanged glances with Ron, who looked as confused as he felt.

* * *

 **Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face.**

In a sense, it didn't matter that his spell backfired. It wouldn't have hit Malfoy anyway because Jason had ducked through the melee, and had been right in between Ron and Malfoy when the spell was cast. The only reason Jason hadn't hit Malfoy out was actually Cassandra. She'd slipped through faster than anyone and simultaneously pushed Malfoy to the ground and pulled her brother away, hissing something at him in an undertone.

She looked absolutely terrifying.

(And then Jason punched Flint, who was about twice his size, when the Slytherins started laughing at Ron. Cassandra flattened two of the others before they helped get Ron down to Hagrids'.)

* * *

"Blood don't mean nothin'!" Jason grits out. Cassandra lays a gentle hand on his shoulder and he visibly calms himself, giving Hermione an apologetic look. "Sorry you had to put up with that. It really is best to ignore them but," he shrugged. "One too many times I guess."

Harry blinked at him confused and Jason rolled his eyes and pointed at Cassandra, then himself. "Pureblood. Muggleborn who lives in pureblood society. I hear it a lot."

He pointed at Ron, Harry, and Hermione each in turn. "Pureblood, Half-blood, (that means you're half-n-half by the way) Muggleborn." He flopped down onto a stool. "Those morons think it matters. They're the same idiots that give Dickie-bird grief about _his_ ancestry."

"What is his ancestry?" Hermione said curiously. "I remember Malfoy called him a," she hesitated. "A gypsy once. And a…"

"Half-breed." Jason scowled. "Means someone who isn't entirely human. Like werewolves or veela, or centaurs or vampires. I dunno if it's even true, but there's a lot of rumors about Dick-face's family tree."

Ron belched out another slug and Cassandra rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"Blood doesn't matter." She said firmly. "Not for magic, not for family."

* * *

The Death-day party was made a great deal more tolerable by the Wayne Kids and Company's presence. Jason in particular seemed adept at communicating with the ghosts without offending them and Grayson had brought a large bag of edible food he said came from Alfred. Tim Drake seemed absorbed with getting a photograph of a ghost, experimenting with different things.

Alfred was a very good cook.

The Wayne's split off as soon as they left the party though, headed towards the Hufflepuff common rooms to finish out their Halloween Night together.

* * *

"So whoever or whatever it is is targeting Muggleborns." Grayson said seriously. "We can assume that Tim was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's a pureblood, but Hermione and Penelope are Muggleborn."

"They figured it out." Jason says lowly, sounding sure of himself and also very, very angry. "Hermione's the smartest witch here except for maybe Barbara, and Tim is bloody brilliant. They figured it out."

"The fact remains," Grayson continues. "That we do know that no one is safe, even if some people are higher priority targets than others. Jason, Stephanie, you are both Muggleborn. Harry and I are half-bloods, but they'll be more likely to go after me than him." He gives Barbara Gordon a glance. "It's safe to assume that you'll be a high-risk target, since you are head girl."

Gordon nods and explains to Ron and Harry. "I'm half-blood, technically, my dad comes from an old wizarding family but he's a squib. My mom's a muggle."

Cassandra growls in frustration. "We need to know what they know."

* * *

Once again, Cass slips in after hours to visit. She glares at him for a solid minute with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Remember what I said…last time? Why you…didn't you come? Let us help? Idiot." Then she hugged him.

* * *

Over Hermione's shoulder, Harry can see the Wayne Kids all fussing over Tim Drake, who is wrapped up in Jason's arms and seems unlikely to be set free anytime soon, the belligerent Gryffindor glaring at any of the other first years who come to see about their friend.

Grayson eventually tugs him free and hugs him tightly.

Then Harry is distracted by Ron and Hermione and looses sight of the Waynes.

* * *

 _ **Notes: So, the characters are as follows...**_  
 _ **Richard Grayson - 4th Year - Hufflepuff - Chaser - Half-blood/Half-breed/It's really complicated and I hope to explain it at some point**_  
 _ **Jason Todd - 3rd Year - Gryffindor - 2nd String Beater - Muggleborn**_  
 _ **Cassandra Cain - 2nd Year - Hufflepuff - Pureblood**_  
 _ **Timothy Drake - 1st Year (He came to Hogwarts a year early) - Ravenclaw - Pureblood**_  
 _ **Stephanie Brown - 1st Year - Gryffindor - Muggleborn**_  
 _ **Barbara Gordon - 7th Year - Ravenclaw - Head Girl - Half-Blood (To all but the most stringent and bigoted supremacists.)**_

 _ **Also of interest...**_  
 _ **Bruce Wayne - Adult - Former Slytherin - Pureblood**_  
 _ **Alfred Pennyworth - Adult - Muggle - Awesome**_

 **I am open to requests for specific moments you would like to see incorporated! Let me know! Just push that lovely little button that says "Review" on it!**


End file.
